WSJ’s: Starting Fresh With an Unpaid Internship

Internships—temporary positions that pay little or no salary—are typically designed for college students or recent graduates exploring potential career paths. But with unemployment at 9.5%, some older laid-off workers are taking on these stints to stay busy, gain new skills and expand their networks. In the meantime, they continue to job hunt and, in some cases, collect unemployment benefits.

Hello recession! What a scary job AND internship hunting season we will have this year. Imagine, competing against seasoned professionals in the internship hunt, or the entry-level job hunt. Makes me shudder, truly.

Granted, Harvard grads will be weathering out the storm better than most. But, this recruiting season, things will get ugly. Really, don’t pester your class of 2010 friends this entire fall with study group requests. We’ll be applying ourselves to grad school or the bottomless job hole.

For anyone not going through the imminent catastrophe of graduation, what are your thoughts? Feelin’ lucky for being in school for some more years?

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